Meeting Your Blasting Requirements With Safety & Efficiency
WESCO has a variety of effective products to serve the comprehensive needs of our customers. Our expertise includes the use of bulk and packaged ammonium nitrate, ANFO, emulsions, ANFO/emulsion blends, and water gels. Initiation systems available include non-electric, electric, and electronics used in combination with a wide selection of primers.
Various grades of detonating cords are available when conditions make their use preferable. A wide range of delivery systems is available depending on volume requirements, hole size, water conditions, and other environmental factors.
For technical information sheets and MSDS, visit the technical library. Scroll down the page for more information related to Western Explosives Systems Company’s product line.
Ammonium Nitrate
Ammonium Nitrate (AN) is a primary ingredient in WESCO’s bulk and packaged explosives. Our corporate partner, Dyno Nobel, owns and operates strategically located plants where natural gas is converted into AN prills and solutions.
Dyno Nobel’s capacity to manufacture and transport more than 750,000 tons of ammonium nitrate per year is vitally important to ensure that a reliable supply is available for our customers. WESCO and Dyno Nobel have the ability to source additional tonnage of ammonium nitrate in selected markets.
Emulsions
Emulsions are water-in-oil explosives ideal for bulk loading, both on the surface and underground.
Emulsions, in combination with ANFO, or loaded on a 100% basis, have captured a large share of the explosive market. WESCO is an industry leader in emulsion formulations, chemical gassing for density control, and various delivery systems available to provide quality products in the borehole.
WESCO’s line of packaged emulsion products is typically produced in chub-type cartridges from 1 to 3 inches in diameter. However, paper-wrapped emulsions and larger-diameter shot bags are also commonly used.
Packaged emulsions are widely used in quarry and construction work. They have excellent water resistance and do not contain nitroglycerin.
Electric Detonators
Although non-electric detonators are now widely favored, many blasters still use electric detonators, which allows them to test the circuit before firing the shot.
WESCO’s electric detonators are manufactured in a range of precise milliseconds and long period delays. This allows the blast holes to detonate in a predetermined sequence to control ground vibration and improve rock fragmentation.
Non-Electric Detonators
Non-electric detonators utilize a plastic tube to carry a signal to the detonator instead of a pair of wires. The inside wall of the tube is coated with a reactive powder. When ignited, the shock wave travels inside the tube at 7000 ft per second to the detonator.
The major advantage of nonelectric initiation is its immunity to potential misfires caused by radio-frequency energy or other stray electrical charges.
Electronic Detonators
Instead of pyrotechnic delay elements, electronic detonators utilize microchips to deliver more precise timing to improve blasting results.
WESCO uses the DigiShot® electronic initiation system, which is an important advance in technology, enabling users to achieve accurate benefits of electronic initiation systems with the easy connections of traditional nonelectric shock tube systems.
Cast Boosters
Virtually all of today’s bulk explosives (and some packaged explosives) are not detonator sensitive. That is, a standard strength detonator fired in the explosive will not cause it to detonate.
Boosters amplify the detonator’s energy to initiate a reliable full-order detonation in the explosive column. WESCO distributes a full line of cast boosters in a variety of types and sizes.
Detonating Cord
For those who require the exceptional strength and durability of detonating cords in their initiation system, WESCO distributes a line of reliable, high-quality cords in all of the popular core weights.
Delivery Systems
Every year in America, over 5 billion pounds of explosives are consumed and 95% are delivered into the borehole by bulk loading methods. WESCO helped pioneer bulk explosives delivery equipment and is continually developing safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective systems.
Services
Blast Design
Our highly trained technical staff utilizes the latest generation of blast design software to aid us in improving your blasting results while minimizing the cost.
We can provide complete documentation and help with record keeping, including electronic downloads, and analysis of blasting results and total costs.
Shot Loading
When WESCO provides shot loading service, the customer gets the benefit of highly trained blasters who will load the blast holes using safe blasting processes and procedures which are specified in a blast site safety manual.
WESCO uses state-of-the-art equipment to ensure a high-quality product that is loaded in a safe, efficient, and professional manner.
Complete Shot Service
WESCO has the expertise and experience to allow you to outsource the entire drilling and blasting program. WESCO will design, drill, load, shoot, monitor, and record the blast. Our complete shot service means our customer avoids the burden of handling explosives, training and retaining competent blasters, and the high expense of equipment, inventory, and insurance.
Blasting plays a more important role than just breaking rock. The benefits of optimizing fragmentation are measurable in the downstream processes, from pit to plant. WESCO offers a project-based measure-and-manage approach that utilizes blast design to tailor fragmentation to improve the overall productivity of the shot.
Vibration, Airblast, Flyrock Reduction
Today, reducing ground vibration, airblast and flyrock is more important than ever. Blasting sites tend to be closer to populated areas, and the liabilities associated with the blast event are increasingly expensive.
WESCO blasters practice state-of-the-art monitoring techniques to reduce neighbor complaints, improve community relations and minimize the customer’s exposure to damage claims.
Looking for services that are not mentioned on our website? Get in touch to see how we can help you with your requirements.